


Oceans You Made

by berryfuls



Category: Scorpion (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M, Friendship/Allies, Phone Calls, Post 3x22
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-19
Updated: 2017-04-19
Packaged: 2018-10-20 20:23:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10670106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/berryfuls/pseuds/berryfuls
Summary: They needed friends to get through this. They were both hurt, they were both at fault, and they both deserved to have allies on the team.





	Oceans You Made

“If you’re calling me to tell me I need to apologize to Walter, I will hang up on you.”

Paige pinched the phone between her ear and her shoulder as she continued chopping lettuce. It was a nervous action, something she was doing to be moving and to get her frustration out, since salad for two really didn't require a full head of lettuce.

“Calm down, I’m not,” Toby replied. She sighed. Of course that wasn’t why the shrink was calling. “I wanted to ask you a quick question about the seating chart. Do you still have the final version? Sly’s asleep and we can’t find it.”

She laid down the knife and turned so her lower back was resting against the counter. “Yeah, I have it, I’ll send it after dinner. But Toby-”

“Paige, if you want out of the wedding, Hap and I would understand. Special circumstances.”

She sighed and glanced across the apartment to where Ralph was playing a game on her laptop. “I still want to be your best ma’am. You’re my friend, regardless of my relationship with Walter or my position in Scorpion.”

“I sense there’s a ‘but’ coming.”

“But,” she continued, smiling slightly. “I don’t know how much I can help with planning, since you’re doing most of it at the garage. And I don’t know how comfortable I would be with him around.”

“Look, if you want me to give Walter a time-out table by himself or if you want me to marry Happy twice, one wedding for you and one wedding for the supreme ruler of Scorpion, you got it.”

She laughed, the sound foreign to her own ears. She looked to the clock on the stove and read the time. It’s been forty-four hours since I was fired. She’s hardly so much as smiled for anything besides Ralph’s benefit, much less laughed. It felt good. “Don’t call him that. We’ll be there. I can handle it, I just worry about how Ralph is taking it.”

“I’m sorry he got caught up in this. Sly, Happy, and I were talking about coming by to see you guys. Like you said, still friends.”

She smiled and nodded to herself. “Yeah, I think we’d like that. And we can finalize the playlist while you’re here.”

She felt a pang in her chest when she remembered how she and Walter had danced to the song he had picked out for the wedding. That night, she had felt the whirl of excitement and happiness, of the feeling of being exactly where she was supposed to be. She had felt them finally making ground towards something more, everything she had wanted in the past couple years. They had finally became functional as friends, and it felt like every day, in their flirtatious conversations and the nearness they’d come to enjoy, they were about to teeter past the brink of their stalemate.

Then he remembered. Then he got angry.

Then he wasn’t angry and then decided he didn't want her or her son around anymore.

“Yeah, we can finalize some of that stuff, but really we just want to make sure you guys know that we’re still here for you. We’re still family, even if we don't have the same man signing our paychecks,” Toby was saying, almost as if he’d sensed her thoughts.

“Thanks, Toby,” she replied with a smile. “I really appreciate it.”

There were muffled words spoken on the other line before Toby said, “Hold on.” A couple soft clicks, then, “Paige? Happy wanted to talk, too.”

“Hi, Happy,” she said, assuming they had put her on speaker.

“Hey, Dineen. Are you still available to come to my final dress fitting?” Happy asked.

Paige smiled. She knew that in her own way, this was how Happy was showing that she still wanted Paige around and involved. “Of course. I wouldn't trust Cabe to make sure everything's perfect.”

“And Paige,” Toby cut back in, “If there’s anything we can do for you and Ralph, anything you two need at all, please tell us.”

Paige started to say there wasn’t anything, but then had a thought. “Can you tell Richard Elia that I won’t be taking the job?” She glanced back over at Ralph. “I’ve made lots of contacts through Scorpion. I’ll find something that isn’t just Walter’s way of relocating me.”

There was a slight pause. “None of us thought you were going to take it anyway,” Happy replied bluntly. “Your job was more than just helping Walt relate to people, you helped us relate, too, especially to you. Besides, we don’t need any E.Q. to know you weren't going near that job with a ten-foot pole.”

“Keep us updated with how things go,” Toby added.

“Of course. Hey, I got to go, I need to finish up dinner. We’ll see you guys soon.” They said their goodbyes and hung up.

It felt strange to know that the team still supported her and wanted to be her friend. She wondered if Walter knew, and if he did, if he even cared. She knew that she had things to apologize for in this fight, but coming to terms with that would take time. For now, she was just content with knowing that she wasn't alone.

She and Ralph were going to be just fine.

\---

“Cabe? Is everything okay?”

Walter had left his phone on his desk to further distance himself from it, fearful of what he might do. But he’d forgotten to turn the ringer off, and he’d all but sprinted towards it. It wasn’t the caller ID he had been expecting, and he wasn’t sure if that made him feel relieved or disappointed.

“Hey, kid. I just wanted to check in with you. You’ve had a rough day.”

Walter slumped into his chair. “You could say that, yes. But Scorpion will carry on. Paige will succeed elsewhere.”

“I understand you needing distance from her. She let you down. You’re allowed to be upset.”

“I’m not upset. Her job here has been completed. It was something I was always aware was approaching and now the time has come.” Walter shrugged a shoulder. He reached for a Rubix’s cube on his desk, just to have something to busy his hands.

Cabe sighed. “Kid, don’t try and fool me. I know you too well.”

Walter closed his eyes and leaned back in the chair. “How could you all not tell me?”

“I didn't know much, only what you had said before Paige had stepped in. I suppose I should have mentioned it, but I felt it wasn’t my place. If anyone should have told you, it should have been her.”

“It…. bothers me. That she could show me how to rely on other people instead of my brain, and then the one time my brain let me down, she did, too.” His throat feels thick. Is this what it’s like to feel “too emotional?” It made him long for the days of being, for all intents and purposes, a robot.

“I understand that. And I’m not saying your anger isn’t justified. But she made us all turn off our comms before she spoke to you. She took that conversation seriously, and the only ones who know what you two said are you two. If you feel it wasn’t sincere, then I trust you.”

Walter blinked up at the ceiling. He hated how quiet it was in this building. He had considered playing music, something, anything to fill the silence. Every time, he had immediately remembered dancing with her in the middle of the garage floor, how her perfume had intoxicated his senses, how she had felt in his arms, how she had shared his smile when they had looked into each other’s eyes. This had the adverse effect of blindsiding him with the fake memories of dancing with her on the rocket, the way the hallucination had teased and flirted, how her body had fit perfectly against his, their heated, passionate kiss-

He hadn’t put on any music. Silence, while deafeningly lonely, was preferable.

“It doesn't bother me that what she said may not have been sincere,” he said finally. “I’m alive because of what she did, and I’m grateful for that. It bothers me that she and the rest of you didn't tell me. It bothers me that I was in space to begin with because I didn’t want to keep hearing her with Tim.” He let out a breath, and then said more quietly, “It bothers me that, after she and I made up, I had assumed that I wouldn't ever have to think about trusting her again. I had assumed she’d be a constant, my support, and now that faith has been shaken.”

“Especially when you two were so close to finally being together.”

“I still love her, Cabe.” The words left his lips before he could fully acknowledge their weight. “I wish I didn’t, but I do. I’ve loved her for… longer than I’ve known, and it's only ever hurt me in the end. I wish it was as easy as distancing myself from her, but…. it hurts.”

“That's love’s nature, son. It hurts.” He was quiet for a moment before saying, “If she sat down with you and you two had a real, honest conversation, would that help?”

Walter swallowed. “I don’t know.”

He glanced at her desk, still littered with papers. She had been angry, two days ago. He didn't fully understand why. She was the one who had lied. She was the one who, despite lying, had taught him more than he had ever considered knowing about human connections. She had thrived at this job. If he wasn't angry with her, why was she angry with him?

“I don't want to tell you what to do, but I think you should talk to her.”

He had considered talking to her. He had even tried calling her, but hung up before it had started ringing. “I think… I think it might be too late now.”

“I hope not, kid. For both of your sakes.”

“Thanks, Cabe.”

“I got to go, Allie will be coming by any moment. But stay in touch, alright? I don’t want you to feel like you’re alone in this.”

Walter nodded to himself. “Will do.” With that, they said their goodnights and they hung up.

He felt guilty. How was it that she was the one who lied to him, had broken his heart more times than he could count, had left him with only memories as vivid and strong as they had been in the moment, and yet he was the one who felt he was in the wrong? Toby and Happy had been so angry with him that night, and they hadn't talked to him since. Cabe seemed to be the only one on the team that still supported him.

One ally would have to be enough. The team had work to do, and whether they liked his decisions or not, he was still the boss.

Scorpion was going to be just fine.

**Author's Note:**

> team let walter be angry bc he has every right to be  
> Also, the title is a reference to a song on my Walter-centric playlist that I'll be posting on my wearescorpion tumblr.


End file.
